Shoe



' both are covered by an outsole.

Patented June 26, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,379,384 sHoE Charles Strasnick, Revere, Mass.

Application December 17, 1942, Serial No. 469,332

2- Claims.

This invention consists in a new and improved shoe or sandal and a novel process of shoemaking by which it is herein shown as manufactured.

The shoe or sandal of my invention is characterized by the employment of a complete preformed and finished counter-pocket, molded to present a flat base flange and having its upper edge finished as it is to appear in the. finished shoe. This counter-pocket is interlocked with an insole having a U-shaped slot cut, in its heel seat portion for the reception of the upright walls of the counter-pocket. The slot provides an internal tongue which fits the interior of the counter-pocket and an external integral rand which fits about its exterior. The inturned base flange of the counter-pocket is fastened in flat condition to the lower face of the insole and then Subsequently the rand of the insole and the margin of the outsole are stitched together outside the counterpocket and the tongue of the insole and the outsole are nailed or tacked together inside, the counter=pocket A shoe or sandal having a heel end portion of the character above outlined may be easily and economically manufactured and. results in a particularly strong and sturdy construction, comfortable in wear and leasing, in appearance. It is economical in manufacture because it requires only the simplest shoemaking operations and because no exacting requirements are made of the stock employed. The counter-pocket is completed by the counter molder and comes to the makin room as a finished element of the shoe. No stock fitting is required in preparing an insole for my improved shoe beyond the formation of a U-shaped slot in its heel seat and this may be effected by a simple dieing out operation. The counter-pocket fits readily in its proper interlocking relation with the insole and may easily be secured in place by a flat stapling operation or other step requiring no special shoemaking skill. The outsole stitching and nailing operations are equally easy and effective.

The shoe structure is particularly strongbecause the counter-pocket flange is not only secured to the lower face of the insole but it is. in effect clamped between the insole and outsole, the two soles being united by marginal stitching outside the flange and tacks passing through the flange or through the superposed soles inside the contour of the flange.

The shoe or sandal of my invention is attractive in appearance in thatthe walls of the counter-pocket pass smoothly through the slot of the insole, and the rand portion thereof, when stitched to the outsole, exactly resembles a heavy Goodyear welt such as is found only in the highest grade of mens shoes. The heel seat surface of the insole moreover flows into the enclosure of the counter-pocket with a streamline effect and the walls of the counter-pocket rise cleanly from the surface of the insole in pleasing lines.

These and other features and advantagesof the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the preformed counter-pocket employed in the construction of my improved shoe or sandal,

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the rear or heel seat end of the insole,

Fig. 3 is a corresponding view showing the counter pocket as assembled with the insole, in inverted position and stapled to its lower surface.

Fig. t is a view in perspective of the rear portion of the completed sandal, and

5 is a view in longitudinal section through the heel seat of the sandal.

The illustrated embodiment of my invention comprises a sandal of which the rear end, com,

prises a preformed counter-pocket of the general character shown in Fig. 1. An outer portion it of upper leather or other selected sheet 2 material is assembled with a lining portion H and the two portions are united along their upper marginal edge by a line of stitching 12. The outer and lining portions assembled with the usual counter stiffener are first preliminarily shaped between rollers and then molded in a counter molding machine into the characteristic counter shape, that is to say, the upright walls are conveXed in two planes and the lower margin is converted into an inturned flange I3, U- shaped in contour and lying in a single plane. The counter-pocket is a stiff resilient self-contained unit and is completely finished in the molding operation. Its upper marginal edge, for example, may be top stitched and undertrimmedwhen the stitch line. I2 is made and it is within the scope of the invention to bind or edge-finish the exposed edge of the counterpocket in any manner appropriate to the style of the shoe in which it is to be employed.

The insole [4, which has been died out in approximately the shape desired in the finished distributes more uniformly the stress caused later by flexing the insole M on a line extending between the ends of the U-shaped slit so as to lessen the danger of tearing, and also it facilitates the assembling of the counter-pocket with the insole. The insole is preferably of solid leather insole stock but any suitable composition fibre material commonly used for insoles may be employed.

Having prepared the counter-pocket and insole as above described, these two elements are now assembled by inserting the upright wall of the counter-pocket through the slit of the insole, bringing the flat inturned flange i3 of the counter-pocket into face to face contact with the lower surface of the insole and attaching the flange l3 to the insole by staples 22. These may be driven through the flange l3 with the sole M in inverted position as suggested in Fig. 3 and clenched on the inner face of the tongue of the insole. It will be understood of course, that the slit 15, with its widened terminal slots I6, corresponds exactly in length with the peripheral length of the counter-pocket so that the forward edges of the walls of the counter-pocket rise abruptly through the slots 16 from the inner or upper face of the insole M.

The next step of the shoemaking process consists in cementing and laying an outsole li upon the lower face of the insole l4 so as to cover the flat stapled flange l3. If desired a bottom filler of plastic composition or sheet form may be applied to the bottom of the insole before the outsole H is cemented and laid thereon. The filling step is an optional step well understood in the shoemaking industry. In Fig. 3 the outsole IT is indicated as having been laid in the forepart of the shoe but is broken away so as to expose the flange i3 of the counter-pocket.

Having attached the outsole I! by cement, the shoe bottom constituted by the two cemented soles is now edge-trimmed to give the sole the exact contour desired in the finished shoe. At the conclusion of the edge-trimming operation the margin of the two soles l4 and i5 is united by a may be located so as to catch the inturned flange [3 of the counter-pocket or they may be within the inner contour of the flange, but in any case the result is to form a firm connection between the tongue of the insole and the body of the outsole. The clenched ends of the nails may be covered by a sock lining 20 cemented to the upper face of the tongue portion of the insole and extending smoothly to the inner walls of the counter-pocket.

The forepart of the shoe or sandal may be formed in any desired manner. As suggested in Fig. 4 a series of transverse straps are secured through slots to the lower face of the insole and covered by the outsole, but the construction of the forepart constitutes no part of the present invention and may be of any conventional or commercial construction.

The sandal is completed by the attachment of a heel l9 shown herein as corresponding in contour with the trimmed contour of the heel seat and as having a tapering brest edge. A cross strap 23 may be also attached in any desired manner to the upright walls of the counter-pocket preferably by a eyelet or rivet, that will permit the strap to swing for adjustment across the instep of the wearer.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described it in one illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A shoe having a stiff resilient, self-contained counter presenting an inturned base flange, an

insole having a curved slit extending continuously around its heel seat forming a rand of substantially uniform width, said slit flaring to substantial width at both its forward ends approximately at the heel breast line, the walls of the counter extending upwardly through said slit and its base line of through-and-through stitching l8 which extends continuously around the shoe and per manently and securely attaches the rand portion of the insole to the margin of the outsole. The stitch line 18 resembles exactly the welt seam used in high grade mens welt shoes and, since the inner edge of the rand fits snugly against the upstanding wall of the counter-pocket, it is practically impossible to distinguish it from a welt. The flnished shoe thus presents in appearance a completely welted and stitched heel seat edge.

Meanwhile the tongue portion of the insole is deflected upwardly over the forward edges of the flange (3 as indicated in Fig. 4, although this deflection of the insole tongue is slightly exaggerated. in that figure to illustrate what actually occurs in the shoemaking process. The tongue is completely severed from the rand portion of the insole I4 by the slit l5 and slots 1 5 so that it may be deflected upwardly to provide a heel seat surface disposed in the shoe at a higher level than the rand portion and is curved smoothly and downwardly from the heel seat to merge into the shank portion of the sole. The tongue is now permanently united to the outsole by nails or tacks 2| which are driven through the bottom of the inverted shoe and clenched on the inner face of the tongue of the insole. These nails iii flange being fastened in flat condition to the lower face of the insole, the insole itself having an inner tongue portion completely severed from said rand and sloping upwardly between the forward ends of the slit and being disposed at a higher level throughout the heel seat than is the insole in the shank of the shoe, and an outsole nailed through the base flange 0f the counter to the insole and sewed to the rand of the insole outside the walls of said counter-pocket.

2. A shoe having a stiff resilient, self-contained counter-pocket unit with upright walls edgefinished as in the complete shoe and with its lower edge presenting a continuous inturned flange, an insole having a U-shaped slit in its heel seat extending continuously from the heel breast line on one side of the sole to a similar point on the other side of the sole thereby defining a tongue in the insole which is connected to it only at its forward edge, said slit flaring to substantial width at both its forward ends and thereby lessening and distributing the stress caused by flexing the insole, the upright walls of the counter-pocket unit extending through the slit, means for securing the inturned flange in flat condition beneath the bottom of the tongue, the said tongue being deflected upwardly and being disposed at a higher level within the Walls of the counter-pocket than is the remaining portion of th insole outside the counter-pocket, and an outsole stitched to the insole outside the walls of the counter-pocket unit.

CHARLES STRASNICK. 

